Charlie O'Donnel: If you don't lead, you're not a VC

Could not agree more that there is way too much hype around panel speakers and such. Especially in smaller, not well-known events where they couldn't get an actual qualified speaker.

I experienced this in the college town where I started my company. They would take whoever the most qualified person is and give them a panel role or a speaking role. For example, you'd have a partner at a law firm giving startups product advice, just because he happened to be the only regarded person they could get.

Kudos to the poster. Only critique I have is that I misread the title to mean "If your VC firm doesn't lead rounds, you aren't a VC". Might be better to clarify.